Life Sentence for Man Involved in 2014 Fatal Botched Bank Robbery in Cairo

A southern Illinois man will spend the rest of his life in prison for fatally stabbing two bank workers and critically wounding a third during a botched robbery.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced 32-year-old James Nathaniel Watts of Cairo, Illinois, to life in prison without parole plus 10 years. Watts pleaded guilty in March to attempted armed bank robbery resulting in death and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The crime occurred in May 2014 at the First National Bank branch in Cairo. Authorities say Watts was armed with a gun when he confronted three female employees as they emerged from the bank after closing.